Join the Illinois Democracy Schools Network on Tuesday, December 5 from 4–5 pm for a FREE webinar with author and education influencer Shawn McCusker. We'll discuss Shawn's book, Becoming Active Citizens, winner of the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Gold Award for Education. 

Shawn is the Senior Director of Professional Learning at EdTechTeacher. He has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader in public, private, and alternative schools. As an expert in technology integration, his lessons and student products have been featured in Educational Leadership and the Huffington Post. In 2006, he was recognized as a finalist for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2016, he was named a Top Trailblazing Educator on Twitter by eSchoolNews. He regularly appears as a keynote and featured speaker at conferences across the U.S.

Register for the webinar here.

The ISBE Standards and Instruction team recently released guidance and resources pertaining to the revised Illinois Learning Standards for Social Science. These resources will enable Illinois educators and students to delve deeper into the social sciences to open new avenues for exploration and inquiry-based learning. The standards emphasize the importance of critical thinking, problem-solving, and practical communication skills. These can provide a framework for education to prepare students for future college and career success. 

ISBE encourages educators to explore the new resources, which were developed in collaboration with University of Illinois faculty, and to incorporate them into their teaching. The resources include the required Illinois Mandated Units of Study for Social Science, a tool kit to support more inquiry-based and inclusive social studies teaching and learning experiences, instructional videos on connecting with community, inclusive and inquiry-based pedagogy, and curricular best practices. 

The most recent guidance document for the Illinois Learning Standards for Social Studies standards was posted on Nov. 15, and the resources can be accessed through the Illinois Social Studies Network. Please contact the Standards and Instruction team at standards@isbe.net if you have questions.  



Your students’ voices are important! Use Well Versed, iCivics brand-new animated music video series, to teach students about civics in fun, imaginative ways.

The upcoming 2023 election season is the perfect time to highlight the importance of voting and using your voice. Use the music video, “Our Voices,” from Well Versed, iCivics brand new animated music video series created in partnership with Nickelodeon and ATTN:, to show students why their voices matter no matter their age. In this video, Max gets schooled by Carla when he and his classmates fail to vote in their class election, leaving egg salad everywhere...

Watch Video

Along with an original pop song about voting, “Our Voices” includes a viewing guide with:

• Pre-watch questions, including “When and where in your life do you get to ‘vote’ on decisions?”
• Post-watch questions, including “Why does Carla say that voting is a duty?”
• Activity ideas, including making a campaign poster for pizza (or egg salad)

Explore all the videos in the Well Versed series. There are 8 videos for elementary students (ages 6–11) and 4 for preschoolers (ages 2–5) that teach kids about civics. Each includes a viewing guide created by iCivics.



Explore Well Versed

Join Christina Ross, Director of Educating for American Democracy implementation at iCivics, and Mary Ellen Daneels, Director of the Illinois Civics Hub, on January 17 from 3:30–4:30 pm CT for a FREE webinar providing an overview of the new middle school U.S. History curriculum from iCivics that centers student voice and inquiry as the primary mode of learning.

Harmony in Our Story: An Overview of New Resources from iCivics for Teaching American History in the Middle Grades is appropriate for teachers, instructional coaches, and curriculum directors.

When: January 17, 2024 from 3:30-4:30 pm CT

Register through the DuPage ROE at: https://bit.ly/MIdHistory

Do you have an unlimited right to free speech online? What role does the state have in ensuring comments, thoughts, and ideas are not censored? What rights do tech companies have to decide what kinds of speech are tolerated on their platforms? These questions and more will soon be at the heart of a case before the Supreme Court.

Bill of Rights Institute's brand-new lesson uses the First Amendment and a recent Texas Tribune article to help students analyze and discuss these major questions. It is designed to help you get your students thinking about how the pending Supreme Court decision could affect them, why this question has arisen now, and what it might the new Supreme Court case could mean for individual liberty. 

EXPLORE THE E-LESSON



Join the ABA Division for Public Education and the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, DC for a unique teachers’ professional development using great federal trials as a lens to explore the judiciary, rule of law, and US Constitution throughout American history.

During the Summer of 2024, participants will explore Amistad, U.S. v. Gaiteau, and the Rosenberg trials.

When:  June 24–28, 2024

Where:  Washington, DC (travel and lodging costs included)

Questions?  Email catherine.hawke@americanbar.org for any questions.

Click here to find out more and apply!



Join the Constitutional Democracy Project, the Illinois Civic Hub and the ABA for an exciting professional development opportunity to empower educators in Illinois, particularly those serving in underserved communities, and prospective teachers, with dynamic and

inclusive resources on American government, history, and civic engagement. We provide the tools and knowledge to not only meet but exceed Illinois' inclusive history and civics instruction requirements.

Become a part of our program to make a real impact in the classroom and shape the next generation of informed, active citizens!

SAVE THE DATES FOR AN INSPIRING SUMMER OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT!

CHICAGO: JUNE 10-14, 2024

SPRINGFIELD: JULY 22-26, 2024

BENEFITS:

● Professional Development integrated into current standards

● Ready to use classroom resources

● Innovative Curriculum

● Expert Instructors

● Numerous Networking Opportunities

● Stipends

● 30 CPDU credits

● Hotel accommodations & meals provided

TEACHER COMMITMENT:

• Attend scheduled professional development in Chicago OR Springfield
• Participate in all surveys, reflections, & evaluations
• Participate in 3-4 workshops post PD (either on ZOOM or in-person)
• Bring 10 student delegates to Student Constitutional Convention
• Participate in culminating Student Constitutional Convention in Spring 2025

Check out this flyer with more information

If you are interested in learning more, please register your interest here, and you will be contacted.



Join Teach Democracy (formerly Constitutional Rights Foundation) on Thursday, December 7, between 4 and 4:30 pm (Pacific Time) to learn about the new Civic Action Project (CAP) curriculum, featuring:

• New lessons that include multimedia elements.
• New Project Planners that promote critical thinking and informed civic action. 
• Civic Action Toolkit with dozens of examples of how students can impact a problem or concern in their community. 

The CAP curriculum is web-based, standards-aligned, and FREE! CAP is excellent for satisfying a senior project, a service requirement, or preparing students in some states to earn a civic seal for their diplomas. 

Visit the CAP website to learn more and inspire your students to be informed and engaged members of our democracy!

Register for the webinar here!

Are you talking about the news in your classroom? Do your students have questions on issues like conflict, globalization, immigration, or climate change? CFR Education has created a library of free authoritative, accessible, and accurate learning resources that can help your students understand the complex world of international relations.

What is CFR Education?

CFR Education leverages the knowledge of Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) experts to make complex global affairs and foreign policy issues accessible for middle school, high school, higher education students and educators through award-winning educational products: World101, Model Diplomacy, and Convene the Council. CFR Education also supports educators through curated teaching resources including lesson plans, reading guides, and editable presentations.

Sign up for the CFR Education newsletter to receive free teaching and learning resources straight to your inbox.

Illinois Holocaust Museum’s literature-based teaching trunk program provides K–12 educators with a wide array of resources for classrooms with units on character education, human rights, the Holocaust, and/or genocide.

IHMEC ships across the country free of charge. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity!

"Students who have struggled to comprehend the impact of the Holocaust were able to display greater empathy, awareness, and higher-level understanding of the topic because of the teaching trunk." - Teacher, Holmes Middle School

Inside Trunks:

• Classroom Sets of Books
• Literature Circle Sets
• DVDs
• Maps/Posters
• Artifact Replicas
• Curriculum Binder

TRUNK OPTIONS

Character Education (Grades K-4)

• Myself, My Community
• Our Town, Our Community

Character Education and Age-Appropriate Holocaust Education (Grades 5-6)

• Memory, History, Culture

Holocaust Education (Grades 7-12)

• Historical Perspectives Through Different Voices
• Investigating Human Behavior
• Survivor Stories Mini-Trunk
• Midwest Survivor Stories Mini-Trunk

Genocide & Human Rights (Grades 7-12)

• On Our Watch: Genocide and Human Rights Trunks

Click here to find out more!

All teaching trunks address State and National Learning Standards, including Common Core State Standards.



National Geographic Society is officially back for Year 2 of the Slingshot Challenge, where youth from around the world can share their ideas for "slingshotting" our planet forward! Nat Geo is challenging 13-18-year olds to create a one-minute video sharing their solutions to our current environmental problems. A selection of entries will be eligible to receive funding for up to $10,000. Participation is free of charge.

Nat Geo is accepting submissions until February 1, 2024. Nat Geo is also offering a series of virtual support sessions for students to meet with National Geographic Explorers to ask questions and workshop their ideas and challenge solutions.

Visit www.SlingshotChallenge.org to learn more about the Slingshot Challenge and check out the Slingshot Challenge Resource page here to sign up for information sessions, utilize user guides and toolkits, and review Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

iCivics has a number of opportunties for teachers across the United States to join Communities of Practice to support rigorous and relevant civic education.

• No one should navigate the challenges of teaching alone. Apply to join the Educator Network — a supportive community of educators from around the country. Application for new members is open now: https://bit.ly/3SvEepO
• Applications for the 2024 iCivics Design Squad are now open! You can provide feedback on new resources, playtest games, join focus groups to discuss trends in the classroom, and much more. Apply by December 3: https://bit.ly/46nWZPc

The National Humanities Center has announced its schedule for the Humanities in Class Webinar Series. Each webinar is a live, interactive professional conversation led by a scholarly expert addressing a compelling topic through the lens of the humanities. Appropriate for educators at all levels, from K-12 to collegiate classrooms, each session features research, source documents, and readings to support the discussion. 

Participants receive a certificate of completion to document five hours of professional development to meet continuing education requirements.

All webinars are free. Register today!



2023–24 webinar topics include:

• The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
• Media History and Freedom of Speech
• Hip Hop and Youth Culture as Pedagogy
• Indigenous Center, European Other: Teaching Indigenous Histories of the Americas
• Civic Engagement 101: Connecting Your Classroom to the Community
• How Will Students Learn to Write Now That We Have ChatGPT?
• Teaching Chaucer
• Exploring Women and Girls of African-Descent in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Speculative Fiction
• F.B. Eyes on Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, Jr.
• What The Fact?!: Finding the Truth in All the Noise

View the full webinar schedule

Annenberg Classroom is looking to hire several current classroom teachers to write lesson plans for the newest film in our award-winning Constitution Project series, The First Amendment: New York Times v. Sullivan. Will you please spread the word about this great opportunity to teachers in your networks? 

Here is a quick overview:

• Teachers who submit winning proposals will receive $1,500, have their work posted on Annenberg Classroom, and have paid opportunities to appear on national programs to promote the film and the lesson plans.

• Annenberg is looking for three separate lesson plans – one each for high school, middle school, and upper elementary. Teachers choose which level they want to submit.

• The deadline for proposal submissions is December 15.

Learn More



EYPC program is a civic engagement that guides youth to bring positive local policy change to their communities. During EYPC, you and your young people will:



1.    Identify the change that students or the youth community desires

2.    Learn about the workings of local governing bodies

3.    Engage friends, neighbors, and business leaders in the efforts

4.    Communicate with elected officials to enact change

Want to learn more? Visit the EYPC website and register for their upcoming online training on December 13, 2023, from 9 am to noon. You will:



1.    Acquaint yourself with the EYPC program, including planning and building readiness for EYPC.

2.    Gain proficiency in the contents of the EYPC Program Manual and all supplementary materials.

3.    Hone your ability to carry out EYPC activities through role-play simulations.

4.    Develop an understanding of how to customize the EYPC program to align with the specific requirements of your community.

5.    Depart from the training session inspired and ready to put the EYPC program into action within your community!

Register for the Training



The National Youth Leadership Council is a national leader in the proven practice of service learning embedded in the 6–8th and 9–12th civics course requirements. NYLC has debuted new resources to support classroom implementation of this high-impact pedagogy.

Five Steps to Creating an Effective Service Learning Experience: Whether you’re new to service-learning, or you have experience in utilizing this teaching method, these 5 steps to creating an engaging service-learning experience can help ensure that your students are meeting educational outcomes while addressing genuine community needs. Read more...

Elevating the Experience with the K–12 Service Learning Standards for Quality Practice, Part One: When you understand and utilize the standards in your practice, you can create a transformative experience for your students, their communities, and your institutions, ensuring the success of your process and making it worth the effort you’ve put in. Read more...

Elevating the Experience with the K–12 Service Learning Standards, Part Two: All of these standards are essential components that ensure the quality and impact of a service-learning experience. They are tools to maximize the transformative potential of service-learning, by fostering personal growth, academic development, community engagement, and ethical responsibility. Read more...



ICYMI: Is That a Fact? podcast from the News Literacy Project Season 3 is a wrap.

You may have known about the podcast, but have you seen the NLP educator guides to help you bring the podcast topics into the classroom?

Check out the three episode listening guides from this season, tackling the topics of AI, sports and opinion:

• “Chatbots are supercharging search: Are we ready?”
• “Flagrant foul: Misinformation and sports”
• “Opinion creep: How facts lost ground in the battle for our attention”

Video projects are a powerful way for students to communicate ideas and share learning.

KQED is hosting a webinar, Help Students Communicate, Connect, and Share with Video Storytelling on December 6 at 6 pm CT.

Explore a variety of video projects from K-12 classrooms that show the impact of video storytelling, then start your own video to use as a model for a project in your classroom or learning environment. Learn More »



For more than 10 years, V-NEP has been helping teachers bring history, culture, geography, and current affairs classes to life. The Global Awareness Map (which you can explore here) includes 1,200 short videos, facts, Classroom Discussion Points, and critical thinking exercises on 57 countries around the globe. 

The Global Awareness Map can transport students to the frontlines of combat zones and far-away places— even back in time to witness history “in the making”! Select a region and country, launch the featured videos, and watch your students engage!

V-NEP is in the process of updating the Global Map with new content on hot topics such as Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Below are links to a small sample of new content that was just recorded. The videos need background footage (dependent on funding) but give a sense of the content we hope to add to the Global Map: Russia, Iran, Ukraine, and Korea.

In addition to the Global Awareness Map, the V-NEP team produced a Women in the Military documentary. (The full video is 1 hour. A short trailer is here). 

At the time we produced the “Women in the Military” film in 2008, women made up 12% of the force. Today, there are more than 21% of women in the forces. The impact of women is notable, and growing each day.

V-NEP has continued to produce content documenting the many firsts for Women in the Military and beyond (short intro video) 

And we have new 2022-2023 Women in the Military content in development: 

• Introduction
• Why I Signed up to Serve
• The First of Many
• Service Opportunities
• Final Thoughts
• 10 lesson plans/worksheets for educators. 

To learn more about V-NEP and its mission, visit V-NEP.org. There you will also find information about V-NEP’s board comprised of former military officers and educators who firmly believe our greatest hope for the future rests with an intelligent and informed citizenry, particularly as it relates to the education and preparation of our youngest citizens.



Since 2005, Street Law has honored extraordinary classroom teachers through its annual Classroom Champion award. The select few educators given this award represent the best of the best in civic and law-related education.

This includes teachers like you who build civic agency and advance justice in your classroom every day.

The winner (and one guest) will receive a FREE trip to Washington, DC, to attend the Street Law Awards Gala on April 25, 2024. They will also join an exclusive and impressive line-up of previous honorees from around the country.

Please consider nominating yourself (or a colleague). Doing so provides a window into your classroom, allowing others to see the impact of Street Law materials and strategies in action.

The application deadline is January 10, 2024.

Nominate Yourself or a Colleague.

Please join Facing History & Ourselves for professional learning in person this fall. Our industry-leading professional learning experiences are designed to share practical tools that support classroom instruction and build inclusive school and classroom communities. Teachers who attend will receive resources that are aligned to Illinois state standards and the Teaching American History mandates. They support educators in making shifts towards inquiry-based learning. Educators will get access to resources to create engaging learning spaces for everyone and receive tools for facilitating classroom discussions connecting history with today. Facing History & Ourselves offers Illinois clock hours or certificates of completion for full participation.

US History: A New Approach to Teaching the Reconstruction Era

December 12–13, 2023, 8:30 am–3 pm CT

Participants will learn a new approach to teaching the Reconstruction Era in a way that connects this history to American identity and students’ own lives and the choices they make today. How does society rebuild after extraordinary division and trauma, when the ideals and values of democracy are most vulnerable? The Reconstruction Era, most commonly viewed as the period from 1865 to 1877, was a monumental struggle for freedom and democracy in the face of violent backlash. The study of the Reconstruction Era in American history is essential to an understanding of citizenship and democracy in the United States today. You will learn to teach about the Reconstruction Era using an inquiry-based approach that helps students connect this history to their own lives, to current and societal issues, and to the choices students make today. Who should take the course? Sixth through twelfth-grade educators and curriculum specialists who teach US history, civics, humanities, ethnic studies, and African-American History.

Choices in Little Rock: An Approach to Teaching the Civil Rights Movement: January 30–31, 2024, 8:30 am–3 pm CT

Examine the choices made during the 1957 desegregation of Central High School. Learn new ways to engage students in this history and connect it to civics lessons today. In 1957, nine black teenagers faced the threats of angry mobs when they attempted to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The desegregation of Central High School ignited a crisis that historian Taylor Branch describes as “the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War.” Examine this key moment in U.S. history and learn new ways to engage students in the issues raised by the American Civil Rights Movement and their implications today through critical analysis, reflection, and civil discourse. Who should take the course? Sixth through twelfth-grade educators and curriculum specialists who teach US history, civics, humanities, and English/Language Arts.



Illinois State University Department of History and Social Sciences Education, McLean County Museum of History, and ROE #17 present the 2024 History Symposium- It's Not About the Answer: Using Social Studies to Ask Big Questions on Friday, February 2, 2024, from 8 am–3:30 pm at Illinois State University Bone Student Center in Normal, Illinois.

Disciplines represented: History (US & World), Government, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, & Geography

Grade levels: Pre-K, Elementary, Middle, and High School

The Call for Proposals is open until December 3, 2023. While proposals for sessions aimed at any aspect of teaching pre-K, elementary, middle, secondary history, and the social sciences are welcome, the symposium recognizes the importance of sessions around this year's broad theme of Using Social Studies to Ask Big Questions.

Consider submitting a proposal and register today.

The 2024 MyImpact Challenge is now open for submissions! The Bill of Rights Institute launched their national civic engagement contest on September 11, the National Day of Service, to continue the legacy of 9/11/2001.

The My Impact Challenge website contains the contest guidelines and a six-lesson curriculum that helps students design a locally targeted service project. 

Students ages 13–19 can submit Community Service Projects for a Change to win up to $10,000. A complete submission contains a project report, a principles essay, and photo or video documentation.  

The contest submission deadline is May 20, 2024. 



With its historic passage in April of 2021, the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (T.E.A.A.C.H.) Act amended the Illinois School Code, ensuring every public elementary and high school student in Illinois learns about the contributions of Asian Americans to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States.

The Illinois Civics Hub is partnering with Asian Americans Advancing Justice to offer FREE PD hours to K–12 educators looking to deepen their own understanding of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) history, and to gain classroom resources to support cross-cultural education for all students in Illinois, aligned with the revised social science standards.

Educators can click the links below to choose from the following webinar opportunities:

For Elementary Level

• January 30, 2024, 4:30–6:30 pm
• March 14, 2024, 4:30–6:30 pm

For Secondary Level

• February 27, 2024, 4:30–6:30 pm
• April 24, 2024, 4:30–6:30 pm 

Be sure to visit the Asian Americans Advancing Justice site for more resources to implement the T.E.A.A.C.H. Act.



The Illinois Civics Hub has partnered with the Lou Frey Institute at the University of Central Florida to provide educators the opportunity to earn their microcredentials in facilitating current and controversial issue discussions.

In this asynchronous 5-week course offered on Canvas, participants will learn from academic experts Dr. Diana Hess & Dr. Paula McAvoy as you explore the purpose, role, and function of discussion strategies as pedagogical tools to equip young people to be engaged citizens. This course will enhance the practice of educators with strategies and resources to create a classroom climate in which there are equitable opportunities for ALL students to engage in dialogue about essential questions across the curriculum.

The course begins January 8, 2024. Participants will complete one module per week and can expect to spend 2–3 hours per week on coursework.

Registration information is available on the Guardians of Democracy homepage. Those who successfully earn a Bronze Certified Guardian of Democracy Educator badge via Badgr earn 15 PD hours. Members of the Illinois Democracy Schools Network can also earn a $300 stipend.

There are three strands of courses for each proven practice of civics education. Graduate credit is available through the University of St. Francis for completing all three courses. For more information, please visit the Guardians of Democracy homepage.